“I cannot tell you that. I think it (the board meeting) is after the FA Cup.

“I have been asked if there is a board meeting before the cup final. I said no, after. And of course, I will be there and at the moment I think we should focus on short-term and what’s going on on Sunday and in the cup final.

“You have certainly to know that there are many aspects of a football club which have to be discussed at a board meeting.

“One of them is of course what is happening with the manager, the future, the players who have to come in, the renewal of contracts. You don’t miss problems in a board meeting.”

Wenger wants to roll into that meeting with #Top4 and an FA Cup. Both are possibilities at the moment. So he’ll be licking his lips at the idea of a new contract, no restrictions, and a chance to live out this fantasy vision that major losses are special circumstances, and this season has been a blip (not the culmination of stagnating ideas).

Ivan G will probably be hoping for something quite different. I’d imagine he’s been compiling research into Sporting Directors, club setups elsewhere, potential managers (JARDIM PLEZ) as well as working out the different scenarios he could face post board meeting.

Gab Marcotti thinks Wenger might walk after an FA Cup final win. What does that look like? How can we ensure our pants are firmly up should Wenger pull and Irish exit? Who would we hire? Who could we wrench from a club? How would we ensure stability? Who gets promoted, who gets fired, who do we bring in elsewhere?

Most think Wenger will stay, if he’s weak, what can you do to make him better? Who can you rip out, who can you bring in? How do you empower people to work with an autocrat?

If Wenger stays and he’s strong, realistically, can you do anything?

Many questions to answer. It’s going to be tough for Stan K as well. This isn’t business as usual. Competition is heating up in the Premier League. When he originally came, there were maybe 4 big clubs. Now there are 7. Even the average teams are more powerful. Competition in the league has never been hotter.

Can the owner afford to indulge the manager for another 2 years, when Everton are about to go stratospheric? When Spurs have the best manager in the league. When Chelsea are about to give £200m to Conte. When Pep’s ideas are about to sink in with his players. When Klopp will spend some proper money.

Owning a failing Arsenal will cost Stan big. We are a premium ticket, and people won’t continue to fork out premium money if we sink any lower, especially corporates (I understand it’s still very easy to pick up a club level season ticket). We’re also entering a stage of our Wenger lifecycle where 20,000 will avoid the stadium out of apathy. Fan aren’t even angry, they’re just bored of a man who is stinking out the party with a total lack of self-awareness.

If Sunday goes as we think, Wenger will have cost Arsenal £50m straight off the bat. If he finishes 5th, we’ll be straddled with a tonne of games in the backwaters of Europe that will be played on Thursdays, a day later than Champions League. We’ll have no hope of mounting a serious title challenge with that sort of fatigue menace around our necks.

Best case, Wenger sacks it in. The board meeting goes horrendously. He jumps ship to PSG.

In other news, Tony Adams launched a quite incredible hit piece on Arsene Wenger, with a lot of truth to it.

Patrick Vieira once suggested Arsene does not like big characters and personalities around, especially ones from Arsenal’s history.

Perhaps Arsene thought I might be too challenging for him.

He seemed to like an assistant such as Pat Rice or Steve Bould, both great club men who were not going to ruffle feathers.

Unreal comments, but so damn true. There isn’t an exArsenal pundit out there that isn’t shocked at the lack of explayers around the club. No Keown, no Paddy V, no Bergkamp, Freddie has gone to Germany… a total bleed of a winning culture that once was.

The sad thing about the article is there are contradictions in there, one minute he’s saying he’d work for free, the next he’s turning down £45k a year for an under 18s job. There’s a lot of truth though, Arsene doesn’t like dissenting voices. He won’t be questioned. He is the commander in chief.

You can’t run any successful business like that unless you are 100% top of your game. Dissent makes you better, being challenged focuses you, and having empowered people around you creates a great energy that can be unstoppable.

Anyway, probably not the sharpest story for Tony to write. I don’t think he’s as qualified as he thinks he is. But I’d implore you to read between the lines, because I’d imagine there are plenty of other explayers who love the club like he does, who feel the same way. He’s hurt. That’s a childish kick out. But it’s also childish to only hire yes men.

Usmanov bid £1bn, it’s been refused apparently but that will be his opening bid. There may well be a point where Arsenal as a business will have served it’s purpose for Stan. He could sell us and use the profit to finance his expensive staium move in the US.

I really don’t care, the club needs to be in singular ownership as soon a possible then we can start to move forwardss again.

I certainly hope you’re right. Maybe it is just the opening gambit which he will follow up with a more aggressive offer. Usmanov is the only real chance of getting rid of Kroenke. With him gone, I doubt very much Wenger would stay another minute because he won’t get anything like the power he’s had for over a decade now.

Alex CutterMay 19, 2017 19:30:55
“but a whole fistful of dollars with no risk, or headaches…..that has to prove too tempting for Kroenke.”I don’t know what it’s going to take before you fucking brits figure it out, but there is no “risk” or “headaches” if you don’t give a shit about your investment, other than its profitability. Whatever profit Kroenke would make by selling the club now would be dwarfed by future profits — WITHOUT HIM HAVING TO DO ANYTHING OTHER THAN PUT UP WITH HALF-ASSED BRIT “PROTESTS”.EPL television rights are going to continue to grow at a pace where the money from a top four finish will be an afterthought. As will the value of the property, stadium, and the “Arsenal” brand. The emirates will sell out every match, regardless of how many actually show up. Pull your heads out of your asses. He ain’t selling unless he thinks the club is losing its value. And brits have shown that they can’t even be bothered to stop showing up at matches as a protest.
—————————————-

I’ll be honest – I’ve castigated Usmanov many times on here for staying aloof. But this latest episode hopefully isn’t just a publicity stunt and has real desire and drive behind it. Nothing could be better for the club than for someone like Usmanov to take over and be present in the stand. We’re just like lost sheep most of the time with an ailing, failing, ageing shepherd at the helm with his placid and obedient poodle by his side.

Thousands of empty seats do not look good for the club regardless of whether or not they’ve been paid for. The sponsors won’t be happy and merchandise sales will take a nose dive. In my view, staying away is the best and the most effective protest any fan can make. I’ve stayed away since 2009 although admittedly I don’t have a season ticket. I hope that the fans continue to stay way from home games in their droves. If that happens, I’m pretty sure Kroenke will think about an exit and Usmanov will be there waiting to guide him out the door. What a day that would be!

We need to show our support to Usmanov!!! What he is overpaying for is control of the club. He is giving Kroenke an exit. The man does not have a clue about football, he has litterally made the wrong investment in tbe wrong sport. We are not like in the USA where everything is franchised. A wong step can be very costly in the long run.

Kroenke Jr tell your father to sell up majority control and let Usmanov bring you the profits you crave.

As I understand it Kroenke’s 71% is worth about £730m so he will make an instant profit of £270m for giving up something in which he has not interest and doesn’t give a fuck. Only a buffoon arsehole would refuse such an offer.

Anyway,one thing that baffles me endlessly is the contract situation with Arsene and the jockeying/ power struggle between Ivan Gazidis and Arsene that Pedro alludes to…

It really baffles me-simply because Ivan Lazidis. if he truly is trying to position himself to enact change,doesn’t really have to do anything in the present circumstances.

Why-you ask?

Quite simple..
Arsene’s contract runs out, at the end of this season(give a week or two).
It doesn’t have to be renewed,irrespective of the outcome of our final placing in the EPL and whether we win the FAC,or not.

His contract will have expired.Subsequently,it should be a case of thank you Arsene,we are choosing to take a different path.All the best..

And this is where-Ivan will have sat and waited patiently to step into a position of taking control of the reins..

If Ivan can’t take advantage of this situation,then he’s nothing more than a patsy.Pure and simple.

In short-there’s nothing to negotiate with Arsene once his contract expires.
You don’t renew,you don’t enter into negotiations to extend.
It’s run it’s course-like Arsene.
Done,finished-Adios Amigo..Au Revoir..

If that’s the case, I don’t see how Kroenke can be tempted. Maybe it is just a starting bid. I’m not really sure how much Arsenal are worth. There a varying valuations on the Internet and nothing accurate or recent.

JeffMay 19, 2017 22:00:22
As I understand it Kroenke’s 71% is worth about £730m so he will make an instant profit of £270m for giving up something in which he has not interest and doesn’t give a fuck. Only a buffoon arsehole would refuse such an offer.

——————————–
Kroenke won’t sell unless it’s an astronomical offer.Far more in excess of 1.3 billion.
It’s a long term investment.It’s a self sustaining business.
In short it’s printing him money.He is a risk averse investor.

He has a sporting portfolio..He’s a long term investor,not a speculator,looking to flip his investment.

Yeah I did look at that from before and I thought there was something wrong in that estimate. It says Arsenal are worth $2.07bn. But 71% of that is $1.47bn which is Kroenke’s share holding. So why would he accept a bid of $1.3bn? Unless Usmanov goes to something like minimum $1.5bn, I don’t think he’s got a cat’s chance in hell of getting Kroenke to sell. I feel deflated now. I think this may have been just a bit of prick teasing or a publicity stunt with no real intention behind it.

I said it last week. A hostile takeover is the only way.
Money talks at the end of the day.

This is what we all need. Will this get Kronke to put more into the club? Usmanov played this perfect. If Kronke does not accept nor invest in the club again, Usmanov wins in the court of fan opinion and comes out peachy

The reality is that Kronke will not do shit or enought and he played that card perfect

The Uber Rich African – Dangote – ain’t buying nothing, do you know how much money he lost with the fall in oil prices that affected the Nigerian Naira exchange rate against the dollar and his net worth?

Also he just got his hands into trying to buy up some Oil Refineries and in some other investments on the African continent and for now i think that is where his focus is right, so don’t look at him to enter a bidding war which he can’t really afford to right now as he is trying to shore up his investments/portfolio once more.

Basically if this was lodged a month ago and neither Stan or Usmanov have moved forward then i very much can say this is a none story.

Once again, Stan K will not sell and has no reason to. The effects of a fan boycott of the stadium will only make itself know/felt next season if it keeps up, then and only then will he look at Arsenal and ponder what his next move will be, as for now (like all billionaires do) he will play the waiting game, he has all the aces in his hand, if Usmanov wants the club he will have to “put up the cash required to entice Kroenke or shut up!!” (He knows this)

Like EmStroller alludes, i also think Alisher is playing a “political game” here and just using The Arsenal as a means to an end.

He will want the fans to do the dirty work for him next season (protests, Apathy to attending games, online/sm slating of the club and so on) and then might come back with another bid next season if all the stars align in his favour.

Stan K will not bat an a lid at any paltry offer (might even see it as an insult and laugh it off) The onus is on Usmanov to make him an offer he can’t refuse and i doubt Alisher is ready to go “Gung ho” to push a takeover just yet.

BAG, Quatari royals have also in the past expressed an interest in OUR club.
Not sure Stan will sell though, he never does.
Reports now suggest Wenger will make token gestures of change and sign on for two years…….but changing failing backroom staff,is a red line.
I am convinced Wenger must have something on Stan

You can’t do a hostile takeover when the main shareholder holds 63 percent of the shares. Short of breaking the law, since Kroenke controls 63 percent of the shares, he can remain as owner as long as he likes.

The answer is that he would have sought to free up funds for Wenger by addressing the stadium debt but that he actually agrees with Uefa’s Financial Fair Play principle of clubs living within their natural means.

“I would do it my way, the way of Alisher Usmanov and not the way of Roman Abramovich or Sheikh Mansour, with all my respect to these two people,” explains Usmanov. “I invested in Arsenal when I bought shares. Obviously, if the club needs it [money], I am ready to consider various options. In my view, at present, the club has great prospects and it does not need additional investment.”

Usmanov needs to make a decent offer. Kroenke isn’t going to value the business at 1 billion. Usmanov will need to pay overs. The price is only going to increase over time so he needs to piss or get off the pot here.

‘You don’t see me with that rush of blood that I used to have as a younger keeper. It’s not that I don’t feel that rush of blood but tactically you are more aware of when to be involved, when to let the defenders recover,’ Szczesny added.

“Not only is the club’s owner, Stan Kroenke, adamant that he will not sell his stake to Alisher Usmanov, the second largest shareholder, but his support for Wenger, albeit in a modified structure, still appears utterly solid.”

“Of course we can need help to become better. I am always open to open that. I am always open to things that improve the quality and the future of the club. After that, you have to see if it’s really efficient because the titles do not always make you better.”

More lip service from Wenger trying to pave the way for his contract. Probably gives us an idea of what he is going to say to the board at the meeting.

However, he’ll just slip back to his old ways because he knows no better and is NOT interested in learning from other people.

Problem is if the article is to believed is that Kroenke is still backing Wenger.

I never bought into Ursmanov publicly backing Wenger: it made no sense on a footballing future of the club. It did, however, make sense that Ursmanov had something else in terms of a long term strategy.

His recent offer, in my mind, is part of the bigger picture for Ursmanov.

He’ll have a plan for the long term and this offer is but a small part of that plan. Also part of that plan will be Wenger getting his 2 year extension. He knows the club will devalue in the losses in the EPL placing, and its sponsors purely because of the board’s misguided management and Wenger’s ineptitude as a manager.

Things will get worse for the club in the next 2 years, especially financially.

I’m sure Ursmano has several stages he’ll slowly move through. He knows that the football brand globally is going to be worth Billions for the elite clubs in the long term future.

Look at Arsenal’s valuation your all have been quoting. It’s in the billions, right?

What I’m hoping for is that the pressure is kept on Wenger, but where all the fans will start to unite to get Kroenke out. By all, I mean AKBs, Wenger Ins and Wenger Outs.

Wenger will eventually over the 2 years, if he is allowed to stay that long, self destruct. I still say he’ll be gone by January.

Let’s see what Ursmanov has up his sleeve; it will be interesting to watch.

I can’t believe that the other factions of the fan base other than the Wenger Outs want to keep Kroenke as an owner.

Later this year, we might just see the Emirates 70% empty when the fans truly unite to save their club with ‘Do Nothing’ protests.

Because at the end of the day, every Arsenal supporter, no matter what their managerial beliefs, want success again deep down.

Let’s fight together, not each other and back Ursmanov.

Wenger’s done, whether its now or in the not too distant future – there’s really nothing to fight about as far as Wenger is concerned in those terms.

What ever happens Wenger won’t be going anywhere.
He will allow a little bit of staff changing, tell the board how wonderful the new formation is working, and he will get a last go.
Usmanov said he likes Wenger so he’s going to be here next season.
How wonderfull!!!

‘The real story here is that Adams, like many Gunners’ legends, feels hurt about being excluded (as they see it) from the upper echelons of coaching, where the manager is delegation-averse. Much of the friction stems from Wenger’s wish to go on being an autocrat, the father of the club, at a time when anyone can see large parts of it are malfunctioning.

His ridiculing of the “director of football” role a while back was a bold move by someone with so few cards to play. Arsenal have not won the league for 13 years, and have departed the Champions League at the last-16 stage for seven consecutive seasons. From Wenger’s perspective there is consistency, but to many Arsenal supporters it looks more like stagnation: a comfort zone in which there is no accountability.

Savouring three consecutive wins, which have revived their slim chance of finishing fourth, Alexis Sánchez said this week:

“I think the players have the desire and mentality.”

Sorry, but no, the players really do not have the desire and mentality. This season’s results and performances flatly contradict that claim.

And this is where the discussion about Wenger’s contract veers away from a straight stay-or-go narrative. Sánchez has been in a sulk for much of this campaign (but has still managed 23 league goals, which shows how good he is). He cannot possibly believe what he says about “desire and mentality”. More likely, this end of season flowering by Arsenal suggests the players have woken up to how much tougher their lives would be if Wenger were to go. The excessive loyalty that protects them from accountability would go straight in the bin the day the new man took charge. These Arsenal players have it easy.

The one compromise scenario is that Wenger observes his work and says: “Enough. Enough of me protecting players who fail to repay the debt. And I need to change my coaching and recruitment. I need to adapt.”

That way, a great manager could start afresh. But there is nothing in Wenger’s history to suggest his modus operandi will change after this weekend. Management has never seen such stubbornness.’

The Financial Times reported that Kroenke had not rejected out of hand the idea of selling his share to Usmanov or someone else, quoting a source who said: “Two weeks ago, I thought something could realistically happen. Now I am not so sure.”

The men have been at odds for a number of years over the direction of the club. Usmanov feels there has been a lack of investment by Kroenke and may be less wedded than him to the idea of continuing with Wenger, whose future will become clearer after this weekend’s closing fixtures of the Premier League season

‘Usmanov has become increasingly concerned about a lack of investment by Kroenke. In an interview with Bloomberg last month, Usmanov said the blame for the club’s performance should not rest solely with Wenger, but also with Kroenke and the board, from which Mr Usmanov is excluded.

Arsenal stands to lose out on about £50m in revenue if it misses out on the European tournament.
Other bidders are thought to be ready to make a move for Kroenke’s share in Arsenal and Usmanov could return with a more substantial bid. He has no plans to dispose of his stake. He first acquired shares in Arsenal in 2007, when he teamed up with Farhad Moshiri to purchase a 14.6 per cent stake for £75m.

Usmanov increased his stake to 30 per cent last year, buying out Moshiri, who went on to buy Everton. Kroenke also bought into Arsenal in 2007 and became majority shareholder four

I hadn’t read this before posting this morning, but it seems maybe I’m right in Ursmanov having a master plan.

Usmanov despite his 30% stake in Arsenal is impotent so long as Kroenke does not want to sell.

He is not paid a dividend on his sizeable investment and cannot even demand a seat on the Board.

I have been critical of Kroenke’s role at Arsenal since he bought a controlling interest. As far as I am concerned he has made an investment in shares
but not in the club itself.

The overall management and stewardship of the club under his watch is frankly poor and that is reflected in how the club is run.

Personally I don’t want to see the management of the club change on an annual basis as it tends to do at far too many Football clubs, but that does not
mean that people like the Board , Wenger and Coaching Staff are given a job for life. They should leave gracefully once they have outlived their usefulness.

I don’t think that Kroenke will sell and certainly not to Usmanov. They are
as different as chalk and cheese. Usmanov is not a young man and by all accounts suffers from diabetes. Also he has no children so if he were to take over there is no succession.

not sure about Usmanov. think Chelsea hit the jackpot with Abramovich in terms of the money he invested but also in his long term commitment to the club. City also look like they’re in safe hands with Mansoor, but lots of examples of clubs being taken over and it not going so well.

i think Kroenke has made the money available, and a lot of the time it’s Wenger who’s the cautious one. would much prefer Wenger to leave in the summer, than a complete overhaul of the club.

I think Arseblog might have something when he mentions other possible parties being interested. Usmanov might have done this to help sell his shares, who would want to buy 30% of a club that is under performing when you’ll have no input, no control and don’t even get a dividend pay-out?

Its gas skimming through old Le Grove posts from years gone by, you always get some gems out it! Love this one from Pedro! 😉

“This is where the difficulty comes when making a fans judgement on Senderos. I wouldn’t ever go against Wengers judgement, because 90% of the time he knows best (For £4.5 million a year you would hope so!). It doesn’t mean I can’t question it though?”

Arsenal will take a significant hit by not being in the CL.
Also, as we’ve seen, getting back into the CL is extremely difficult.

The ‘top six’ will all strengthen and I don’t fancy our chances of bouncing back ,with or without wenger, so the club will continue to take that hit.
As well as loss of tv revenue arsenal will be diminished in stature which will lead to less commercial revenue- sponsorships, merch etc.

There is already enough unrest amongst fans to create all sorts of bad PR which does make a difference. Unless there’s meaningful change I predict a significant amount of season tickets will not be renewed.
The club estimate that there is a ten year waiting list for STs, but how many people on that list will actually be prepared to part with £1,500 to £2,000, when arsenal have clearly slipped into mediocrity.

Finally, there is Kroenke’s commitment to building a $2 billion stadium for the LA Rams. Their first season in LA was predictably bad and although he seems confident he can borrow the money- he won’t pay for it himself- wouldn’t cashing in on arsenal give him more leverage?

The club has a previous history of being selective in its ownership. Usmanov does not fit profile of the type of owner that is acceptable to Board.

Also Kroenke is not a typical owner of a football club. He is very different to
the owners of Spurs, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool. In some respects he also suits the persona of Arsenal, because he does not interfere with
the club’s management.

Personally I am not that keen on Usmanov, because of his background in sport, but I recognise that if he did take over Arsenal would most definitely become once again a more competitive club.

It is not about how wealthy the owner is, but the level of investment he is prepared to make and above all his ambition for the club. In both these aspects Arsenal would start competing again at top table.

I suspect also that Sanchez would be still at club next season, because I am willing to bet that his financial demands would be met.

All valid points but…the Emirates is on prime real estate and must be worth a billion alone, whether there’s a stadium on it or not. Our value as a club is not great but until we exit the premier league, the money will keep rolling in. Bad press? Pah! The Arsenal trifecter of Stan, Ivan and Wenger are impervious to everything thrown at them.

Kronkey the Donkey and Wanker Wenger deserve each other. Stan has taken winning franchises here in the states to nothing. Ask the fans in Denver and St. Louis how much he’s loved. Arsene just finished 5th, no more at least we finish 4th excuses. Two non competitive losers in bed with each other. One in it for the money, the other to feed his damn ego. They deserve each other.